Completed Event: Men's Swimming and Diving versus Arizona Christian on December 13, 2025 ,
M Swimming
vs Arizona Christian
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Deb Schaffer
Team record set on day 1 of NCAAs
3/22/2018 1:02:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
MINNEAPOLIS - The Grand Canyon men's swimming team completed its first two events ever at the NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
The scheduled events included the 200-yard freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay and the 1-meter dive. GCU was invited to compete in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay.
Thursday's events marked history for the Lopes, as they competed in a Division I NCAA Championships event for the first time in program history. Head coach Steve Schaffer was happy with his team's result and how his swimmers handled the big stage.
"Not a perfect day, but a very good one." Schaffer said. "Being able to swim our two B cut relays today gave us a good warm-up for our better events that are coming tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. Our guys got a chance to work out some of the jitters that naturally come with competing at this level for the first time."
In the 200 freestyle relay, Daniil Antipov, Mazen El Kamash, Mark Nikolaev and Bogdan Plavin finished in 22nd place and set a new GCU record with a time of 1:18.17, beating the previous record nine-hundredths of a second.
Antipov, the El Kamash twins and Nikolaev ended the day in the 400 medley relay by finishing 20th with a time of 3:07.64.
Despite not making the finals, Schaffer took the day as a positive and a splash in the right direction.
"We set a team record in the 200 free relay and were just a bit slower in the 400 medley relay." Schaffer said, "We did improve on our initial seed positions in both events. I thought we did well for our first time competing at the NCAA Championships."
Friday's events include the 200 medley relay, consisting of Antipov, the El Kamashes and Nikolaev, while Antipov, Youssef El Kamash and Nikolaev will continue to make GCU history by being the first GCU individual participants at the NCAA Division I Championships.
Antipov will swim the 100 butterfly, El Kamash the 100 yard breaststroke and Nikolaev the 100 yard backstroke. Nikolaev current sits at No. 2 in the nation in the 100 backstroke with a time of 44.71.
The preliminary races will begin at 8 a.m (Phoenix time) with the finals starting at 4 p.m (MST).
While the end result of their first day was not what they had hoped, Schaffer, his staff and the group of seven student-athletes will always be remembered as "the first ones."
"There are just over 130 men's swimming and diving programs in Division I." Schaffer said, "Only about 24 to 30 programs get to swim relays here and placing 20th and 22nd in our first opportunity competing at the Division I Championships is a very good showing indeed."
All events will be held at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, near University Avenue and Walnut Street, across the street from Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
For more information regarding the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, click here.
For more information on GCU Swimming and Diving, follow us on Twitter at @GCU_Swimming and on Instagram at @GCU_Swimndive.
The scheduled events included the 200-yard freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay and the 1-meter dive. GCU was invited to compete in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay.
Thursday's events marked history for the Lopes, as they competed in a Division I NCAA Championships event for the first time in program history. Head coach Steve Schaffer was happy with his team's result and how his swimmers handled the big stage.
"Not a perfect day, but a very good one." Schaffer said. "Being able to swim our two B cut relays today gave us a good warm-up for our better events that are coming tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. Our guys got a chance to work out some of the jitters that naturally come with competing at this level for the first time."
In the 200 freestyle relay, Daniil Antipov, Mazen El Kamash, Mark Nikolaev and Bogdan Plavin finished in 22nd place and set a new GCU record with a time of 1:18.17, beating the previous record nine-hundredths of a second.
Antipov, the El Kamash twins and Nikolaev ended the day in the 400 medley relay by finishing 20th with a time of 3:07.64.
Despite not making the finals, Schaffer took the day as a positive and a splash in the right direction.
"We set a team record in the 200 free relay and were just a bit slower in the 400 medley relay." Schaffer said, "We did improve on our initial seed positions in both events. I thought we did well for our first time competing at the NCAA Championships."
Friday's events include the 200 medley relay, consisting of Antipov, the El Kamashes and Nikolaev, while Antipov, Youssef El Kamash and Nikolaev will continue to make GCU history by being the first GCU individual participants at the NCAA Division I Championships.
Antipov will swim the 100 butterfly, El Kamash the 100 yard breaststroke and Nikolaev the 100 yard backstroke. Nikolaev current sits at No. 2 in the nation in the 100 backstroke with a time of 44.71.
The preliminary races will begin at 8 a.m (Phoenix time) with the finals starting at 4 p.m (MST).
While the end result of their first day was not what they had hoped, Schaffer, his staff and the group of seven student-athletes will always be remembered as "the first ones."
"There are just over 130 men's swimming and diving programs in Division I." Schaffer said, "Only about 24 to 30 programs get to swim relays here and placing 20th and 22nd in our first opportunity competing at the Division I Championships is a very good showing indeed."
All events will be held at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, near University Avenue and Walnut Street, across the street from Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
For more information regarding the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, click here.
For more information on GCU Swimming and Diving, follow us on Twitter at @GCU_Swimming and on Instagram at @GCU_Swimndive.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
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